Continued: Kelley Farm plans center to teach origins of food

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ANN REED AT THE KELLEY FARM

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: 15788 Kelley Farm Road,

Elk River

For more information about this and future events, call 763-441-6896 or visit www.mnhs.org/kelleyfarm and www.friendsofthekelleyfarm.org.

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Five years after it nearly was closed for budgetary reasons, a link to the state's farming past is looking to the future.

The Oliver H. Kelley Farm, a functional farm museum in Elk River, hopes to build a new $10 million visitors center with up-to-date agriculture exhibits, larger classrooms and a goal of deepening visitors' knowledge of the origins of their food. If all goes well, the facility could open in the fall of 2011.

The museum, owned and operated by the Minnesota Historical Society, was granted $300,000 of a $1.5 million bond request from the 2008 Legislature. It's not what the museum asked for, but it's enough to get on with planning, said site manager Bob Quist.

Between now and 2010, when the Historical Society can go back to the Legislature for a larger, capital bond request, the society and other stakeholders will create a comprehensive plan for a site that helps gives tools to Minnesotans of the 21st century to understand where food comes from and to think about how everyday decisions help determine what's available.

"Farmers produce what consumers want," Quist said. "Even though we are in the top six or seven in agricultural production in the country, most people in Minnesota don't have a good sense of what agriculture is and how it continues to change."

While hopes for expansion at the Kelley Farm predate the funding crisis, the plans reflect recent discussions with an array of stakeholders: farmers, educators, academics, and representatives of local government and business.

"You bring these people together and say, here's what we're doing, what do you think we need to do?" Quist said. "What are the messages or stories you think are important for a Minnesotan to know about agriculture? So you gather information and ideas from these people and you come to a consensus."

The site and the Historical Society's development office also will work on private fundraising, but it's not clear what that sum might be.

This summer, the Friends of the Kelley Farm is sponsoring a series of concerts and storytelling events at the farm, starting Thursday with a concert by Minnesota singer-songwriter Ann Reed. The Friends events run parallel to the farm's fundraising efforts, raising money for field-trip scholarships and other causes. But Quist said the exposure has got to help.

"These events bring people out to one of their community gathering places, and informs them that historical sites can be and are a vibrant part of the community," he said, "that historical sites or a museums aren't just a place to go to read plaques. They're a place to go to be a community gathering point."

Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409

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